Letters for October 19-25, 2006

Enough about guys marrying their daughters! It's embarrassing enough that New Times published "Daddy's Little Girl" (Kelly Cramer, September 28) as a long feature in the first place  this deserved a short ain't-people-crazy? mention at best. But to devote another story to this seems absolutely egregious ("McMahan Family Values," Tony Ortega, October 12). Sure, I enjoy pulling back the curtain and peeping Jerry Springer-style as much as the next person, but your stories seem to imply this is the most exciting, interesting thing to happen to South Florida.

Despite our plastic image, our intellectual lives in South Florida are not quite so destitute. I would imagine that the fact that the New York Post is the only newspaper to follow your story (as you mention) clued you into that. Surely there isn't a dearth of real stories about important people that one has actually heard of. Doesn't New Times feel that by giving these types of stories far more weight than they deserve, you compromise the integrity of stories that have the actual possibility of informing the public or affecting public policy?

Sabrina Levine

Plantation

Was It Real?

About that last Foley transcript...: This may be incredibly dense of me to ask, but could you please let me know whether "The Last Transcript," (Bob Norman, October 12) was satire? It certainly appears to be, though maybe only because the possibility that the IMs are real is just so disturbing. People on the Internet are circulating this as if it is true, so a prompt reply would be very appreciated. Thank you so much.

What was New Times thinking? I am Ashley Harrell's grandmother. I read her article on Farris Hassan with great interest and thought it was very well done  in depth  and it gave me great insight as to what Farris is all about ("After Baghdad," Ashley Harrell, October 5). However, I did not appreciate the front page, which was very insulting to him. Why do this?

Adele Fox

Via the Internet

Better Than TV

How about William Hurt doing Bruce? The article about Bruce McMahan and his daughter ("Daddy's Girl," Kelly Cramer, September 28) was the most off-the-chain journalism I've ever read in New Times. My girlfriend and I read it together online and were blown away. I couldn't help acting out the drama of it, you know, putting on a rich man's snob accent and coming up with some funny dialogue. My girlfriend thought it would be some gross and perverted article at first but was equally stunned at the surreal, sick soap opera that this story is. It left her with her jaw dropped and me wondering if I should be the one who writes the movie script!

Michael Allan

Miami

Lousy Lawyers, Lousy Outcomes

Can Keith claim legal malpractice? Among his many failures at honesty vis-à-vis the "sludge deal" in Hollywood, one of the most outstanding was when former Hollywood City Commissioner Keith Wasserstrom said: "The Seminoles are very excited." He was referring to the prospect of the Seminoles using the treated sewage as fertilizer ("Wasserstrom Indicted!" The Daily Pulp, Bob Norman, October 10, and "Ooh, That Smell," Norman, April 15, 2004). The only problem, of course, is that the tribe had no contract to take Hollywood's treated sewage  and never took the smelly stuff!

Hollywood City Attorney Dan Abbott proved once again that he hasn't a clue about the law and conflicts of interest. Abbott, after all, believes Wasserstrom is innocent, that he did nothing wrong. He probably believes Gus Boulis' murderers are innocent too! And that Osama Bin Laden is the Tooth Fairy!

One has to look only to the Chabad fiasco, a $2 million boondoggle for the City of Hollywood, to see that Abbott must go too. To me, the guy is simply incompetent. He may not be  but he sure gives incompetent legal advice and opinions. Costly ones too. Oh, we'll get that mayoral weasel, Mayor Mara, next time. And her punk son too.

Harvey Slavin

Hollywood

Editor note: For more on Abbott, see this week's Tailpipe.

Kudos

As a result of a New Times investigation dating back more than two years, Hollywood Commissioner Keith Wasserstrom was indicted on five felony corruption counts last week and was removed from office by Gov. Jeb Bush. Congratulations go to State Attorney Michael Satz, who did the right thing.

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